Oswald Adventures 05: Mickey Unknown
by Kiwi Lee Scipio
Summary: When Mickey came to Oswald's garage, Oswald's present project came to life only to grab a hold of Mickey's arm and disappear from sight. Mickey finds himself in a world that never knew him, and Oswald grew up as Walt's son.
1. Chapter 0

Chapter 0

November 13, 2015

Friday 2:42 pm

"Hey Oswald!" Mickey's voice exclaimed, startling the rabbit into dropping the circuit board he was about to place inside his robot. He looked up with a scowl only to see Mickey's apologetic face. "Sorry."

"What's the news?" Oswald asked, picking up the board and looking it over to make sure it was still alright.

"Amelia's planning on coming to Thanksgiving." Mickey informed with a smile.

"That's great!" Oswald smiled, glad to see his nephews soon. He glanced over at the calendar on the wall and realized, "That's almost two weeks away now. What happened between the two of you anyway?"

"I honestly don't know." Mickey said, putting his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the workbench. "I mean, for a while it felt like I was Morty and Ferdie's Dad and then she wanted them back and that was it."

"Maybe you should ask her." Oswald tried, looking back at his horse to work on it.

"I don't know, what if she's just been able to put whatever it is behind her. I don't want to bring it back up again." Mickey said.

"Men." Ortensia's voice said, getting the two to look up at her in the doorway. "Mickey, you're assuming whatever it was has to do with something you did. What if it's something she's done?"

"But why would she not talk to me than?" Mickey asked.

"She might have her reasons." Ortensia shrugged. "I have a new batch of cookies cooling. Clean up and get some before the bunny children do."

"Thanks, love." Oswald smiled at her retreating form. "Just let me weld this last piece in."

The rabbit pulled on a welder's mask before starting the flame and getting to work as Mickey watched from a safe distance. As Oswald worked, Mickey moved closer to the head, noticing it now looked more like a cow than a horse but before he could ask about it, the eyes flashed to life. The mouse stepped back in surprise only for the cow's head to jump forwards and bite hold of Mickey's wrist.

"Hey, what on-?!" Oswald cried out, turning off the torch and throwing off his mask as Mickey struggled to free his hand. The rabbit moved to try to help his brother only to be forced to look away as a blinding flash of light filled the garage.

As Oswald turned to look back at the spot they had been in he stared in horror at the singed concrete left in their wake.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

14,54

2015 November 13 Friday

"What, Pluto? Quit licking me." Mickey tried, pushing away the cold, rough tongue. He reached for his blanket, surprised at grabbing nothing but air. He opened his eyes only to jolt up as he found himself laying in a cold mid-November park. He turned to who had woken him up and stared at Oswald's robotic cow, sitting dog-like as she stared back at him.

"Kid, are you ok?" a voice asked, getting Mickey's attention. A gloved hand reached down and helped Mickey to his feet before the mouse realized it was Chief O'Hara. The officer turned to look at the cow only to exclaimed, "Clara, what are you doing out here?"

The cow looked around before pointing a mettle hoof to her herself.

"Yes, you. Does Oswald even know you're out here?" O'Hara asked, putting his hands on his hips.

The cow shrugged her shoulders before shaking her head. She stood up and lightly pressed her head so that Mickey's hand would lift up before placing herself under his arm.

"You should go home to Oswald." O'Hara told the cow sternly. He looked back at Mickey only to raise an eyebrow at the mouse's confused look. "What is it, kid? Can you speak?"

"Ya, of course I can." Mickey said, almost taking offence.

"Nice Oswald impersonation. Now come on. In your real voice, can you tell me what's your name?" O'Hara asked.

"I'm, uh, Mickey Mouse." The mouse tried, nervously noticing a frown on O'Hara's face. "You know, Mickey Mouse? I hope you've heard of me, I hope."

"Nope, sorry, he, Mikey." O'Hara shrugged. "Are you sure you didn't end up here by mistake? It doesn't happen much, but every once in a while a Universal cartoon will fall in here."

"What, no, I'm Disney." Mickey tried. "And it's Mickey."

"Well, if you are than come on. You too Clara." O'Hara said, leading them to the park entrance. "You both need to see Oswald."

Mickey followed only to be jolted back by something pulling on his tail. He turned around to see the cow had her teeth on his tail and pulling against him. He moved closer to her so he could free his tail and dropped down to a knee. "Come on, girl. Maybe Oswald can tell us why O'Hara doesn't remember me."

The cow eyed Mickey before getting back on her hooves and walked over to O'Hara who had stopped after realizing they weren't following.

"So what cartoon are you supposed to be in?" O'Hara asked, trying to make small talk while they headed through town.

"Huh, oh um, I'm just a background character." Mickey lied, thinking if he told O'Hara the truth in his state of mind it might cause a panic.

"Oh, really?" O'Hara eyed the mouse a moment before admitting, "You don't look like a background character. But I guess the animators know what they're doing."

"Why don't I look like a background character?" Mickey asked out of curiosity.

"I guess in how you hold yourself." O'Hara tried to explain. "Most background characters I've seen are worried about if they'll get the next gig which tends to make them a bit nervous all the time they're off stage. But you stand as if you know you'll never be replaced."

"Oh, no one knows that." Mickey pointed out. "I just try and not think about it."

As the trio walked through town, eyes caught their attention as toons went about their business. Mickey caught the eyes of a bipedal dog and smiled, "Hey, there's Goofy. Maybe he'll-"

"Goofy?" O'Hara echoed, stopping the mouse in his thoughts. He looked to where Mickey was looking only to shake his head. "His name's Dippy, not Goofy. Where'd you hear him called that?"

Mickey's smile vanished as he looked up at O'Hara. A half smirk appeared on his face as he realized what was going on. "OK, I get it. You pulled a fast one on me, Chief. My birthday's this Sunday and it's not the first one people didn't recognize me. I'll give you points, you really had me going."

O'Hara stopped to look down at the mouse in confusion. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Fine, keep playing the game." Mickey shrugged as he held up his hands in defeat, a smile on his face. "When we get to Ozzie's you can drop the charades."

O'Hara turned away and continued walking towards the residential neighborhood, leaving Mickey and the cow to follow. The three walked in silence as they came up to the blue and white house. O'Hara knocked on the door before glancing over his shoulder at Mickey and the cow.

The door opened, showing them Ortensia standing in the doorway. "Oh, good afternoon, Chief O'Hara. Oswald's in his garage." Ortensia noticed the two behind the police chief and asked, "Clara, did you run off again?"

The cow looked up at Ortensia with her head cocked to the side.

"Why do ya'll keep calling her that?" Mickey asked. "She just got built this morning."

"Huh?" Ortensia looked at the mouse in disbelief before changing her attention to O'Hara for an explanation.

"He's half the problem." O'Hara admitted.

"I'll get Oswald." Ortensia said, stepping side. "Come on in, make yourselves cozy."

Mickey and the cow followed O'Hara inside and into the living room. Mickey sat down in the chair closest to the hall doorway and watched the mechanical cow take the spot at his feet. He looked over at O'Hara, who'd sat down in an old whicker rocker Mickey didn't recognize.

"Ok, now you make sense." Mickey's own voice said, getting the mouse to look up and see Oswald walking in with his wife at his side. The rabbit knelt down in front of the cow and looked her over. "How are there two Clara's?"

"Maybe the same reason why you sound like me." Mickey said, no longer believing they were pranking him.

Oswald looked up at the mouse, first surprised only for his face to soften. "Sorry for this to sound conceded, but it's the other way around."

"If you would, Oswald?" O'Hara said, standing up and pointing towards the hallway. Oswald stood up and followed the officer out of the room.

"So what's your name?" Ortensia asked as she sat on the side of the sofa that was closer to the mouse.

"Mickey Mouse." The mouse shook his head. "None of this is making sense. Why don't you know who I am?"

"Could you tell me a little about yourself?" Ortensia asked, folding her hands in her lap. "Maybe your history?"

"I really doubt you'd believe me." Mickey admitted, leaning his head on his fist, resting on the arm of his chair.

"Try me. I'm always up for a good story." Ortensia offered.

"Maybe you could tell us that, too." Oswald said as the two re-entered the living room. The rabbit took his seat next to this wife and looked at Mickey.

"Fine, I was created in 1928 by Walt Disney and helped him create the Walt Disney Studio." Mickey explained, noticing Oswald's eyes widen in surprise as O'Hara eyed the mouse. "Sorry 'bout lying to you, Chief. I thought you might've lost it."

"I guess that thought's mutual." O'Hara admitted.

"Only about ten years ago did I learn about you, Oswald." Mickey admitted.

"What, do I not exist anymore in your world?" Oswald asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No, you exist, you just are still trying to regain your popularity." Mickey admitted.

"I'm offering again, Oswald." O'Hara said, eyeing the mouse.

"I don't think he's crazy, Chief." Oswald said, dropping his arms. "I'm starting to think he's from an alternate timeline. One where Mintz won."

"It makes sense as to why there's two Clara's." Ortensia put in.

"Wait, alternate timeline?" Mickey asked, sitting forwards in his chair. He looked over at the cow who stared back. "But how?"

"Well, how'd you end up in the park?" Oswald asked.

"I don't know. The last thing I knew was you were finishing welding a new circuit into the robot when she came to life and bit me. We were in your garage then." Mickey explained. "I think there was an explosion after that."

"There you go." Oswald said, only to have four pair of eyes looking at him in confusion.

"Explain, please." Ortensia pushed.

"An electrical explosion." Oswald explained. "It's been myth that if someone got hit by lightning it'd send them through time or even out of it."

"Any chance you can could send us back?" Mickey asked.

Oswald held his chin, thinking for a moment before nodding his head. "Ya, it might take a few days, but we should be able to do it."

"I'm putting you in charge of him then." O'Hara said, throwing his thumb to Mickey. "I've gotta get back to my beet."

"Don't worry." Oswald said.

The chief tipped his hat to Ortensia before leaving the house.

"I hate that he thinks I've lost my marbles." Mickey mumbled after hearing the door close.

"What do you expect?" Oswald offered, leaning his head forwards on his hands propped up on his knees. "I'm just trying to figure out why our voices are so similar."

"It's not in my world, your voice developed rougher than mine, and a few years later." Mickey admitted. "You were also still working under Universal at the time."

"Whereas, here, Walt and Lillian taught me how to speak." Oswald added. "What about you, who taught you?"

"Walt mostly." Mickey said. "That had to be it."

"Well, come on. Let's see what we can do to send you back." Oswald said, standing up.

November 13, 2015

Friday 3:06 pm

"You did _what_ to him?!" Minnie exclaimed, pushing her face close to Oswald's panicked one.

"I didn't do anything! It was the cow!" Oswald tried to defend himself.

"Get him back. His birthday's in two days and I don't want to have a repeat of his sixtieth." Minnie ordered.

"What happened for his sixtieth." Ortensia asked, hoping to turn away her friend's wrath from Oswald.

"He went missing for almost a week until showing up at his party." Minnie explained. "He said some sorcerer cast a spell on him to prevent anyone from recognizing him."

"I wish…" Oswald cut himself off as he held his chin in thought. The two girls looked at him, wondering. "You know what, come on. We need help and I know where to get it."

Minnie turned to Ortensia only for the cat to shrug her shoulders. The two turned back to Oswald and hurried after him as he left the house.

"Where are we going?" Ortensia asked as she jumped onto the passenger seat with Minnie jumping in behind her.

"Back to Wasteland." Oswald said, turning over the engine.

"Wasteland!?" Minnie asked, surprised as Oswald drove off. "But how?"


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

15,20

2015 November 13 Friday

"All of ToonTown's still connected to Burbank?" Mickey asked in surprise as toon bricks faded to inert stone.

"Ya, what? Is it not in your world?" Oswald asked, keeping his eyes on the road as the two drove through the tunnel.

"No, some humans got ahold of a thinner and turpentine mix after a toon created it back in the forties." Mickey explained. "After that all the studios separated their cartoon worlds from each other."

"We never had that here, though the studios still separated." Oswald admitted. "So how do you get to the studio for filming?"

"There's a road leading to the studio directly." Mickey explained. "You still haven't told me where we're going."

"Oh, sorry, the studio." Oswald admitted. "I wanna call up a few people in EPCOT who'd know a thing or two about working with electricity. If they know, then we can send you back before your birthday."

"Wait, EPCOT? As in the real Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow?" Mickey asked, surprised.

"Ya, Walt got to live there even before he died."

"When did Walt die?" Mickey found himself asking, already jealous of the rabbit for the extended time he had had with the man.

"In 1989, right after his birthday, too." Oswald admitted, gripping the steering wheel tighter. "It was stupid, he could've lived longer if only that driver knew where he was going."

Mickey stared in surprise as a tear ran down Oswald's cheek, the pain of almost thirty years coming back. "You can't keep playing the what-if game." Mickey said, looking down at his lap as he picked at a loose thread in his glove. "And as many times Minnie's told me that, I still do it myself. What if I convinced him to stop smoking back when I did? What if I would've helped keep him in the hospital when he was supposed to be?"

"When'd he die in your world?"

"1966."

The two road in a memorial silence as Oswald pulled them into the studio lot. It wasn't until Mickey was stepping out of the passenger seat when he realized the water tower towering above with Oswald's rabbit ears.

"You wanna take the tour? I'm sure it's not too different, but when Tom and Tim get talking, they like to side track a lot." Oswald admitted, the two walking inside the building.

Mickey was about to say he wouldn't mind listening in when a poster from Poor Papa caught his attention. "Ya, I'll go find the tour."

"Tell Amy you're a guest of mine." Oswald said as the mouse rushed off.

Mickey found where a group of humans were gathered for the three thirty tour and quickly noticed a girl in Oswald ears with a name tag saying she was Amy. The girl noticed him right away and smiled, "We don't have many cartoons allowed to join a human tour."

"Oswald said to tell you I was a guest of his." Mickey said, not sure what to do under the eyes of the six humans that were gathered.

Amy looked him over a moment before nodding her head. "I did notice his car pulling up just now." She mumbled to herself. She raised her head before starting the tour. "Welcome to the Walt Disney Studio, founded in 1927 by Walt and his brother Roy."

Mickey followed behind the small group of humans, surprised one little change in the dispute between Walt and Mintz would cause so many changes. All around him, the mouse saw the world that could have been, should have been for the Oswald back home. The rabbit's image was everywhere that Mickey remembered his own with Ortensia taking the place Minnie always stood. A female rabbit dressed in green and Clara stuffed animals sat in a window they passed and not too far down sat what looked like older toys of Homer and Mr. Whiskers.

"…and with the addition of sound in 1930, Oswald was the first to utilize voice and music in a film with his cartoon, The Gorilla."

Mickey looked up at Amy in surprise before realizing it made sense for Walt and Roy to be a year late in coming up with the sound track on the reel. Oswald had gained his popularity in just his first year and they had no need to find that next big push that gave Mickey his own popularity.

As they passed a screening room, Mickey found himself stopping as a black and white carton was playing. The mouse walked into the room, staying behind the animators studding the film as he stared at an older looking Oswald using bunny children to fight back at storks who were bombing him with more bunny children.

Mickey leaned over to whisper in a distracted animator's ear, "Which one is this?"

"Poor Papa." The animator replied, his mind just relaying the information as he quickly drew a few frames.

Mickey stepped back and watched the old cartoon play, knowing this was one of the many Oswald had told him about but he could never show.

The cartoon ended and Mickey was about to turn away only for another Oswald short to start up. The mouse gave up on catching up with the tour and sat down in the far corner, closest to the door as Hot Dog began to play.

As the shorts played out, time flew by for the mouse lost in a world that was forgotten and lost for him.

"Mickey, there you are!" a voice hissed, surprising Mickey to jump in his chair. He turned to the voice and saw Oswald standing there with a frown on his face.

"Hey." Mickey said before turning back to watch.

"Come on, mouse." Oswald ordered, walking out of the room.

Mickey sighed before obeying, following the rabbit out into the hallway.

"You're worst then bringing my kids to work." Oswald said, rolling his eyes. "Amy realized you went missing at the end of the tour and found me, worried about you being a spy from another studio."

"Sorry, I've just never seen most of them they had playing." Mickey admitted. At Oswald's surprised look, he explained. "All of your first year with Walt was kept by Universal until ten years ago. When they gave the rights they didn't have any of the original reels so the company's been looking for them. About half of them have been found."

"What about the cartoons done with Universal?" Oswald asked out of curiosity.

Mickey shrugged. "I think a few are around but really I haven't seen too many of them. You, er well, the Oswald back home doesn't talk about them much. Oh, did you get in contact with them at EPCOT?"

"Ya, Tim actually wants to meet you." Oswald explained, leading them down the hall.

"I wish we could make it out to Florida." Mickey admitted. "To think, Walt actually got his dream here."

"He died right before they finished buying up all the land there, right?" Oswald asked.

"Ya, I had to help them open Florida in his place." Mickey said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I still remember all of that too well. No one expected Walt to die, not with the day before and how he was drawing out Disney World in the ceiling tiles while he was stuck in the hospital."

"I wonder if there's a world were Walt lived out his full life." Oswald offered.

"It'd have to be one where he didn't start smoking." Mickey said, looking at the rabbit. The two smiled at the thought of Walt living longer before Mickey's eyes caught sight of a newer Ortensia doll. A smirk escaped, getting Oswald to raise a brow. "Sorry, just thinking of if my Oswald saw a stuffed animal of Ortensia."

"Who's that?"

Mickey stopped short in surprise. "Ortensia, your wife."

Oswald eyed him for a moment before saying, "Her name's Sadie."

"I forgot she went by that." Mickey said, sighing in relief.

"When did she change her name?" Oswald asked, continuing down the hall.

"I think it the forties she changed it to Ortensia, but before that she'd been called a couple'a different names too." Mickey explained.

"I'm glad Sadie didn't. I like her going by that name." Oswald said as he opened a door. "Here, Tim should still be on screen."

Mickey walked into the room, just realizing he was walking into the same room he had his official office in. A TV screen posted on the wall showed a room miles away, every once in a while the window in the background a person would walk by.

"Hey Tim, you there?" Oswald asked as he closed the door.

A human of about thirty rushed into the screen, running a hand through his bangs to put them back in place. His mouth froze as his eyes stared at Mickey, getting the mouse to wave. "So this is the other worlder?" Tim said, trying to figure out where to start.

"Hiya." Mickey waved, not sure what to do under this human's gaze. He wasn't used to humans looking at him with a look of wonder as to who he was.

"Oswald says you might've come here through an electrical explosion?" Tim said, looking the mouse over. "Can you tell me what was happening before that?"

"Oswald and I were in his garage." Mickey started.

"Why'd you come over?" Tim interrupted.

"Huh, I was telling him our sister was planning on coming for Thanksgiving." Mickey admitted.

"Oh, so you're brothers?" Tim asked, surprised.

"Well, we both consider Walt our father so, ya." Mickey shrugged.

"Sorry about my curiosity." Tim smirked. "Please continue."

"Ortensia, er, she still goes by Sadie here," Mickey glanced at Oswald to see his face only to see nothing but an inquisitive gaze, "had come in saying she had just baked cookies. Oswald wanted to weld in one last circuit board when the cow he was working on came to life and bit me." Mickey instantly rubbed his right wrist. He shook his head before looking back up at Tim. "After that all I remember is waking up here."

"Well, there's the first thing to try." Tim offered. "Find out which circuit is was and try recreating what sent you here. If that doesn't work then maybe the electrical experiment Tom was telling you about."

Mickey raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at Oswald. "Electrical experiment?" he echoed.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

November 13, 2015

Friday 3:54 pm

"I don't think I'll ever get used to humans." Ortensia mumbled as the three walked through Disneyland, making their way to Sleeping Beauty Castle.

"I just have to make sure we don't get too close to the costume Minnie here." Minnie admitted, looking around. She smiled and waved at passing humans, keeping her feet moving.

"Heh, I gotta worry 'bout that too." Oswald realized with a smile. He squeezed Ortensia's hand and said, "I can't wait until they make one of you."

Ortensia smiled up at her rabbit as they entered the castle.

"You sure Yen Sid's lab is really inside the castle?" Minnie asked, looking upwards.

"Ya, we got to use the employee's halls. There's the doorway." Oswald led them to an almost invisible door and pulled it open. The three hurried inside the wall and Minnie closed the door behind her. They silently made their way inside, careful not to disturb any of the humans working.

"Where's his lab?" Minnie whispered after a while of following Oswald up stairs and through corridors.

"Top spiral." Ortensia admitted. She smiled in sympathy for herself and her friend, "Just think of this as our work out for the day."

Minnie smiled back, wishing they could use the elevator.

The three finally made it to the summit, knocking on the wooden door. The door opened on its own, letting the three see a room with a table in the center.

"I heard you three were coming." Yen Sid's voice said as the old sorcerer closed the book in his hands. "The map of Wasteland, if I'm aloud to presume?"

"Ya, we need Gus' help." Oswald explained, surprising Minnie.

The old man nodded his head before moving into the hallway, leaving the three.

"Why don't we just ask him to send us to Mickey, or better yet, ask him to bring Mickey back?" Minnie asked.

"Because he-

"Because I told him not to think of me as an easy way out." Yen Side said, interrupting Oswald as he walked back into the room with a rolled up scroll under his arm. He looked at Minnie and said, "Don't worry, Mickey's in a safe house."

Minnie's cheeks blushed in embarrassment, glad the sorcerer was unrolling the map on the table for a distraction from herself. The three walked closer to see Wasteland in miniature, almost floating on the paper.

"When you wish to return, I'll be in my lab in Dark Beauty Castle." Yen Sid informed.

"Thanks." Oswald nodded at the sorcerer before jumping into the map. Ortensia and Minnie jumped after the rabbit, finding themselves falling into Wasteland.

"There's gotta be a better way of getting here!" Minnie exclaimed as the three fell through the clouds of Wasteland.

"Girls, give me your hands!" Oswald ordered, holding out his arms.

Minnie quickly found a grip only to look over and see Ortensia just out of Oswald's gasp.

Oswald twirled his ears, propelling him forwards. He grabbed Ortensia's hand and started to slow their decent with his ears.

The three touched down in Mean Street Square, gaining the attentions of toons walking about. With toons calling out their names in surprised, one voice called out gaining Oswald's attention. He pulled Ortensia and Minnie along, bringing them into Horace's Detective Agency.

"It's been a few weeks, Oswald, we were starting to think you no longer cared about the Misadventures Club." Horace laughed, not seeing Oswald trying to subtly cut his throat to tell the horse to shut it. "Jack's becoming a good player in your place though. I'd look out if I were you."

"Oswald." Ortensia growled, her hands on her hips as she eyed the droopy eared rabbit. "Are you _still_ sneaking back here to play poker?"

"It's not like the e-tickets were doing us any good now." Oswald tried. "And I like hanging out with the guys still."

"Oh, sorry." Horace rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought she knew."

"Anyway, you wouldn't happen to know where Gus is?" Minnie asked, hopping to save Oswald from Ortensia's wrath.

"Who knows, he never shows up either." Horace shrugged. "Ever since you left, he took over watching over Wasteland."

"You think he'd be tired of that." Oswald commented. "I mean, he pretty much ran it the first time I left."

"I guess he liked it." Horace shrugged. He leaned against his desk as he thought. "You know, he might be over at the new bridge to Dark Beauty Castle. The gremlins just started that today."

They're building the bridges back?" Ortensia asked, a smile taken over her face.

"Oh ya, I hadn't even told you, Oswald." Horace realized. "The gremlin's pumps finally emptied the thinner seas. They've even started replanting orange trees on the outskirts of Wasteland."

"Mickey will be glad to hear that." Minnie said.

"Where is he, anyway?"

-.-.-.-

"You did what to Mickey?" Gus asked in response to what Oswald told him. The three had found the gremlin overseeing the construction, blueprints in hand.

"It was the cow." Oswald tried. "Anyway, I was thinking you might be able to help me create a portal using the stuff we collected from Dr. Vulter*."

"What do you mean?" Gus asked, confused. "Do you know where Mickey went, or even when?"

"I have a hunch he's in a parallel world." Oswald admitted, getting all eyes on him. "If he really is, Dr. Zomblot's junk might get us there to bring him back."

"Why a parallel world?" Minnie asked, surprised.

"Cause of what Yen Sid said." Oswald explained. "He didn't say that Mickey was just safe, instead he said he was in a _safe house_. That was a movie Walt had planned for my second season."

"I never heard of it." Ortensia admitted,

"That's cause the idea got changed to Haunted House, which Mickey did." Oswald explained. "I think Yen Sid was trying to point us to a world that I actually got to do that episode."

"And you think Dr. Vulter's equipment can get us to a parallel world?" Ortensia asked.

"Exactly." Oswald nodded his head.

"Well then, let's get to Dark Beauty. His old equipment's locked up in the dungeon." Gus said, leading the three though the construction and planks.

"Dark Beauty has a dungeon?" Minnie asked, surprised.

*Dr. Vulter is the villain from my Zomblot story. He had created a portal that bypassed the need for a heart and connected Wasteland with the human world, also leading to the cartoon world when he wanted.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

18,18

2015 November 13 Friday

Mickey coughed out a puff of smoke as the garage started to clear out. Trying to wave away the smoke, he heard Oswald push up the door and made his way, with the cow's help, to fresh air. Breaking through the smoke, he dropped down in Oswald's front lawn.

"Well, so much for those ideas." Oswald said, walking over to Mickey.

The mouse turned to lay on his back and eyed the rabbit. "You think?" He closed his eyes as he continued. "You just short of barbequed me."

Oswald sat on the grass next to him and said, "Well you don't want to stay here, do you?"

"I know, I know." Mickey opened his eyes to smile up at Oswald. "Thanks for trying."

"Hey you're family." Oswald said, smiling back. "Even if it is in another world."

Mickey pushed himself up to sitting and asked, "This is random but, is there a mouse here that looks like me?"

Oswald looked at the mouse a moment, moving to try and see Mickey's head at different angles only to shake his head. "No, none of the mice here have ears that do what yours do. Do you control that?" Oswald asked, pointing towards how Mickey's ears always looked round, no matter where the rabbit turned.

"Ya." Mickey admitted, letting his ears go back to their natural upright position. "When I'm in a shoot, I just keep my ears to the camera. It's part of my design."

"Isn't it hard to keep in mind where the camera is?" Oswald asked, trying to understand.

"No, it's just become second nature to me. It's actually hard when the director doesn't want my ears to follow the camera." Mickey laughed, remembering.

"Boys, dinner time." Sadie said, poking her head out the door. She stared at the two sitting on the grass a moment before shaking her head and going back inside.

"So how's dinner with your family here?" Mickey asked, getting to his feet.

"Probably the same as everywhere else." Oswald said, not sure what the mouse was talking about as he got up. "Normally it's just the two of us and Clara when she wants to."

"What about your kids?" Mickey asked, only to be surprised at seeing Oswald freeze.

Oswald dropped his ears as he turned back to the house. "They… disappeared years ago." He mumbled.

Mickey's eyebrows raised in surprise. "I'm sorry."

"I guess your Oswald still has them, huh" Oswald said, his back still facing Mickey.

"Ya, he does." Mickey admitted. He stared at the back of Oswald's head for a moment, wanting the rabbit to have some closer about his kids but didn't know if Wasteland even existed here. He opened his mouth, as if to try and explain only to drop his head a bit before saying, "Come on, I'm sure Or-Sadie will be thinking something happened to us if we don't get inside."

Oswald took the subject change for what it was, obviously glad as his ears perked up and a forced laugh escaped him as he looked back at Mickey. "Ya, she still won't let me forget when Donald and I got kidnapped."

"Oh, Donald's here?" Mickey asked, following the rabbit in the house. His eyebrows dropped as he asked, "He is a duck here, right?"

Oswald laughed a real laugh, taking his seat at the dinner table as Sadie eyed the two. "Yes, he's a duck here. Maybe tomorrow we'll head over there. He might have an idea on how to send you back."

"Humph." Sadie plopped down a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table before wiping her hands on her apron. "That duck would only get you two into more trouble."

Mickey smirked as he sat down, glad some things were the same here as back home.

"I think you should ask the gremlins for help." Sadie continued, turning away to put her apron back on its hanger.

"I'd rather be _dipped_ then talk to them." Oswald growled, surprising Mickey.

"What? What's wrong with gremlins?" Mickey asked, watching Sadie as she sat down next to Oswald, who had his arms crossed over his chest.

"They've got three movies and a television series now so they've been getting swelled heads." Sadie tried to explain. "He made a cameo in a show and they treated him like he was a new toon."

"It wasn't just that." Oswald said, dropping his arms. "Gus and I used to be friends until their second movie, then he started acting like he was better than us."

"And it's gotten worst since they're talking about making another movie." Ortensia admitted, dishing out food into plates.

"At least they have such a fan base here to have so much." Mickey admitted, surprising Oswald.

"What, did their first movie not go well?" Oswald asked before taking his plate.

"Their first movie never got off the shelf." Mickey explained, getting the two to look at him in surprise.

"I'm surprised you remember them than." Ortensia said, finishing plopping a spoonful of mashed potatoes before handing it to Mickey. "They were created in the forties in your world, too right?"

"Forty-three." Mickey nodded, looking down at his meatloaf, carrots and potatoes, remembering this was a favorite of the two. "They were in a video game a few years ago but that was the first time the public saw them on screen."

"A video game? What about?" Oswald asked, waiting for Sadie to get her food.

"A world for forgotten toons." Mickey started, knowing he got himself into a long story.

November 13, 2015

Friday 10:44 pm

"Ok, the main hubs connected to Gus and Tesla's machine." Minnie said, hurrying to where Oswald and Ortensia were finishing connecting the new pieces to the old circle outline that was the portal.

"What are we going to test it with?" Ortensia asked, wiping grease off her cheek with a rag before noticing Oswald needed his brow wiped.

Oswald took the rag before Ortensia could wipe his face and tried to get his hands clean. "I've been thinking about that. Too bad the cow's now with Mickey."

"I'll go."

"What?!" Oswald exclaimed as he and Ortensia turned to stare at Minnie.

"I said I'll go. I'll test the portal." Minnie said, clenching her hands at her sides in determination.

"Minnie, dear," Ortensia tried, resting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I know you want Mickey back, probably more than anyone else, but don't risk your life when we don't know if this thing actually sends you anywhere."

"For all we know, it could open in space." Oswald said, motioning to the control panel. "There's only but so much I can control with a portal originally designed for plane jumping."

"So what are you going to send in to find out." Minnie asked as Gus and a gremlin dressed in an orange jumpsuit floated in.

"We could create a prob." Tesla tried, turning all eyes on him.

"How long would that take?" Ortensia asked.

"Giving time to find or make what we'd need, probably eight to ten hours." Tesla admitted.

"Then let's get to work." Oswald said, sitting down the rag on the work bench. "If we work through the night, it should be ready to go about seven in the morning. If we're running at the same time as their world, that'll give us all Saturday to find him."

"All night, but sir-"

"We're right behind you, Oswald." Gus interrupted, placing a hand on the younger gremlin's mouth.

"I'll get the coffee going." Ortensia said, knowing this was going to be a long night.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

November 14, 2015

Saturday 8:49 am

Oswald shook his head, trying to keep his mind awake. He watched the screen as the probe finally took its first journey through the portal. If he was lucky, he'd see something safe enough to send Minnie through. He glanced behind himself, glad to see Ortensia and Minnie sleeping against the wall. Gus and Tesla were watching the machine powering the portal, leaving Oswald just to hope they didn't fall asleep. Last night had been one long one, leaving all five of them exhausted.

Oswald opened his eyes, finding the probe was now sending him pictures of a park that almost mirrored the park not too far from their own house in the cartoon world. He quickly rubbed an eye before checking oxygen levels and temperature given to him by the probe. Seeing they matched their own, he moved the probe forwards.

"How's the probe doing?" Ortensia's voice whispered as a hand wrapped itself around Oswald's waist.

"Great, and this looks to be a place we can check out." Oswald said, his hopes high.

"Then we better send Minnie in soon." Ortensia said, covering her mouth with her free hand as a yawn escaped.

"Let her sleep a bit longer, I'm going to find some people first." Oswald said, moving the probe forwards to try and find a way out of the park. "We should've built this thing taller."

"We ran out of extra mettle as it is." Ortensia reminded.

"I know, but it's lower than the bunny children." Oswald complained. "I can't really see where I'm going."

"Wait, go back." Ortensia ordered, leaning towards the screen as she took her arm back. Oswald did as she asked, looking for something when she pointed to the bottom left of the screen. "Isn't that the cow's voice modulator?"

"Ya it is!" Oswald exclaimed, a smile over his face. He threw his head to the side and called out, "Minnie, wake up! We found where Mickey and the cow is!"

"Huh?" Minnie asked, startled out of her sleep. The mouse stood up and walked over to Oswald's free side to look at the screen. "You found Mickey?"

"No, but they were here." Oswald said, pointing at the screen. "Let's bring the probe back and you can go look for him."

"Oh thank you Oswald." Minnie said, a smile on her face as hope bloomed.

10,01

2015 November 14 Saturday

"How do you know this mouse is telling the truth?" Donald asked, eyeing Mickey and the robot cow after Oswald had tried to explain what happened the day before.

"Donald!" Daisy exclaimed. She turned to Mickey and said with a smile, "Sorry about him. I think he's becoming paranoid."

"I am not!" Donald hurled at the duck before thumping his elbow on the armrest to put his head against his hand as he mumbled something incoherently.

"Anyway, if he was lying then how come there's two Clara's?" Oswald asked, trying to help his new friend. Donald opened his mouth only for Oswald to add, "Both with my welding mark."

Donald closed his mouth, his question answered.

"Are we in your world?" Daisy asked, leaning forward in her chair.

"Ya, both of you are." Mickey said with a laugh. A bark filled the air, getting the cow lying beside Mickey's chair to sit up.

"Pluto!" Donald called, getting the dog to stop barking only to start and whine.

"Pluto?" Mickey echoed in surprise as the duck got up.

"Isn't he in your world?" Daisy asked, looking at the mouse as the yellow hound bounded into the living room, going straight towards the cow only to sniff as if he realized this cow wasn't Clara.

"Yes, but he's my dog." Mickey admitted, reaching down to let this Pluto smell his gloved hand. Mickey froze as a realization hit him. He looked back up at Donald and asked, "How'd you end up with Pluto? He's four years older."

"Horace had him first, then Dippy for a year before Don got him." Daisy explained.

"Have you tried using the old portal from when Pete was going to send Sadie over to Warner Brothers?" Donald asked.

"It was never tested…" Oswald started thinking,

A knock came from the door, getting Donald to leave the conversation.

"We've got this mechanical cow." Mickey offered only to get a strange look from her.

"Um, Mickey?" Donald asked, leading Sadie and another mouse into the living room.

"Minnie!" Mickey exclaimed, jumping to his feet and finding himself embraced by the mouse. After a moment, Mickey pushed her to arm's length and asked, "How'd you find me?"

"Oswald and Gus got Dr. Vulter's portal working." Minnie explained, pulling out a one buttoned remote similar to Oswald's from her skirt pocket. "This will bring us back to Wasteland."

The cow stood up and looked at Minnie, gaining the mouse's attention.

"Don't worry." Minnie said with a laugh as she petted the robot. "I won't forget you."

"Well, I guess this is good bye." Oswald said, standing up from his chair.

Mickey turned to face the rabbit with a smile, taking the outreached hand in his own. "Thanks Oswald." Mickey said, shaking the hand.

"Course." Oswald smiled, looking down his nose as they let go. "Anyway, you're family."

A sound of electricity crackling filled the air as a purple portal floated in the center of the living room with Donald complaining. "Come on Mickey, let's go home."

At the mention of home, the cow quickly jumped into the portal, disappearing from sight.

"Happy early birthday, Mickey." Sadie said as the two mice walked through the portal, finding themselves in Dark Beauty Castle's dungeon.

"Glad to see you back, Mic." Oswald said as the portal powered down.

"Glad to be back." Mickey admitted, seeing Gus and another gremlin leaning against the wall asleep with Ortensia not too far away in the same position. "So what happened?"

"No clue, let's just hope it doesn't happen again." Oswald admitted, covering his mouth as a yawn escaped.

"Looks like ya'll need to get some sleep." Mickey smirked as he grabbed Minnie's hand as she started to lean towards the left.

"What? No, I'm awake." Minnie tried, jumping straight.

"Come on, let's get home." Mickey laughed.

The end


End file.
